Saved by Kudus: West Ham flop with 13% passing let them down. West Ham United dropped more points at home after a 1-1 home draw with high-flying Brighton and Hove Albion. The Hammers may look back on the game with disappointment at merely getting a point against the Seagulls, after giving Fabian Hurzeler’s side a tough test.
After the first 45 minutes saw no goals, it was the visitors who took the lead at the London Stadium. Hammers goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski did not exactly cover himself in glory, tamely punching a Brighton freekick as far as Mats Wieffer. With the goalkeeper stranded in no-mans-land, the Dutchman volleyed home first time from 10 yards out.
It took the home side just moments to equalise. Six minutes after the Seagulls went 1-0 up, Mohammed Kudus scored with his head. He converted a rebound that fell to him after Bart Verbruggen could only parry a viciously struck Jarrod Bowen shot. The Ghanaian attacker reacted well to nod home a bouncing ball and equalise for the Hammers.
West Ham might well be disappointed to get just one point from the game. As per Sofascore, they had a better Expected Goals tally than Brighton, with 1.6xG to 0.91xG. The chances were certainly there to win it. There were some good performers for Julen Lopetegui’s side today, with Kudus a standout.
Kudus’ performance vs Brighton
24-year-old attacker Kudus has not quite had the start to the 2024/25 season he may have hoped for. Before Saturday afternoon’s clash with Brighton, he had just two goals and one assist in 11 top-flight games this term.
However, he was far better against the Seagulls, working hard in and out of possession before eventually getting a reward with the goal. It was not a classic Kudus strike, lacking the flair that is on show when the Ghanaian normally finds the back of the net. However, it an was effective finish and got the Hammers a key point. He even pulled out his iconic celebration.
It is certainly worth remembering that Kudus was not playing in his usual role on Saturday. By trade, he is a right-winger or a number 10, although he operated on the left against Brighton, and performed his role well.
His stats from the game showed just how good he was against the Seagulls. The 24-year-old had 49 touches and completed 83% of his passes. He worked impressively hard off the ball, winning 11 duels and four out of four tackles.
Kudus’ goal was vital for the Hammers on Saturday and helped them to a hard-fought draw. His goal must have been to the relief of one of his fellow attackers, Niclas Fullkrug, who struggled against the Seagulls.
Fullkrug’s performances vs Brighton
It has not been a good start to life at the London Stadium for Fullkrug. The striker made the move from Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of £27.5m, and the flop has not lived up to that price tag so far.
The 31-year-old striker has played just eight times in all competitions, with seven of those games, including Saturday’s clash with Brighton, coming in the Premier League. Frustratingly, he has missed 11 games with an Achilles tendon injury.
Against the South Coast side, the striker had no impact on the game whatsoever, as the stats show. He barely got a kick despite leading the line for the Hammers, having just 13 touches in the entire game. The German completed just one pass out of eight, leaving him with a pass accuracy of 13%, and lost the ball eight times.
It is fair to say that the centre-forward put in an extremely disappointing performance against Brighton. The fact he struggled to get into the game to that extent might be a concern for Lopetegui,given Michail Antonio will
